Defense Date
2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Electrical & Computer Engineering
First Advisor
Robert Klenke
Second Advisor
Carl Elks
Third Advisor
Smitha Gautham
Fourth Advisor
Milos Manic
Fifth Advisor
Irfan Ahmed
Abstract
As cyber-physical systems (CPS) become more integrated into everyday life, the security of these systems must also be considered during their development due to their ever-increasing importance. With the growth of physical components in the system, more autonomous control requirements, and increased dependence on proper functionality, verifying system safety and correct operation becomes increasingly difficult. CPS have become more complex through the combination of additional hardware and the resulting interconnected software in many layers, each requiring unique security solutions. One example of such a safety-critical CPS embedded system is the Flight Control System (FCS) of an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). An FCS consists of many complex sensors which provide aircraft state information to a central processor to execute the autopilot flight control firmware. Developers of the FCS for these aircraft are dependent on a diverse supply chain for the sensors and processors used in these systems, and they cannot always ensure the trusted delivery of their verified firmware updates to the end user. In addition, the complex sensors necessary in an FCS may wear down and fail over time. These factors lead to system vulnerabilities from various types of cyber-attacks and physical faults of the sensors on a UAS. An architecture of a real-time functional monitor and associated detection techniques for run-time assurance has been developed to detect such cyber-attacks and sensor data faults in a UAS FCS. The results are demonstrated using an FPGA-based Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation testbed for simulating attacks and the attack detection algorithms to provide the user with information regarding these sensor attacks and faults.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
2-5-2024